Exploring Barriers and Facilitators of Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive (FINI) Program Adoption in Washington State Farmers Markets: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2020Existing research has illustrated the economic, social, and health impacts of farmers market Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) match incentive programs and identified key barriers and facilitators of both shopper and market incentive program participation. Few studies have quantified longitudinal patterns in program participation while exploring the impact of markets’ economic, geographic, and organizational characteristics on program adoption and implementation. This project couples analyses of transaction data associated with the Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Program (FINI) farmers market SNAP match incentive programs and interviews with FINI program partners in Washington State. We identify factors influencing farmers markets’ adoption and implementation of FINI SNAP match incentive programs and explore how shopper use (as measured by incentives redeemed and unique SNAP transactions) might vary by market characteristics (i.e. urban/rural classification, markets in high-/low-SNAP locations, and experienced/recent adopter classification). In our four-year study period from 2015 to 2018, market participation and geographic coverage expanded, particularly in rural areas and areas with high rates of SNAP participation. Urban markets and markets with greater experience offering SNAP had higher incentives redeemed and unique SNAP transactions per market. Interviews with FINI program partners contextualized our quantitative findings, and highlighted the significance of barriers (e.g. geographic obstacles and staffing limitations) and the significance of facilitators (e.g. inter-agency collaboration, educational programming, and funding) related to FINI program adoption and implementation. Further longitudinal assessment of existing farmers market outreach strategies to encourage both market and shopper participation in incentive programs may help to expand program reach in the future